Philippe Gabulon, CEO of SG GSC Romania: The only constant is change, so it’s essential to be equipped with the right tools and mindset to confidently navigate the future

Outsourcing Today, the business services industry’s community networking and news integrated platform, resumes the series of interviews dedicated to evolution, expectations and opportunities in business services and related industries.

We invite business leaders, managers of strategic departments of companies, key voices in their field to share with us their insights depicting the new beginning of this year in business, how it looks, how it is anticipated, what adjustments are included in 2025’s agenda and the perspective of growth.

Find the full series of interviews here

We spoke recently with Philippe Gabulon, CEO of SG GSC Romania about the business evolution, trends and expectations of growth. Find below the insights:

Strategic Vision and Market Trends

What are the key trends you believe will shape your industry in 2025?
In 2025, shared service centers (and not only) will continue to be shaped by the rapid advancements in technology and digital transformation. Automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics will continue to enhance efficiency, allowing our industry to shift from transactional tasks to higher-value, strategic functions. Additionally, the integration of generative AI will drive innovation in customer support, finance, and HR services, fostering a more proactive and data-driven decision-making approach.

Beyond technology, embedding ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors into business operations will also play a very important role. Organizations will be expected to integrate more sustainable approaches and ethical governances into the core processes, ensuring transparent ESG reporting. This shift will require the shared service centers to develop data-driven ESG reporting capabilities and sustainable business practices. At the same time, as digitalization accelerates, safeguarding digital infrastructure against cyber threats will be a top priority. We need to proactively research and invest in robust cybersecurity measures, to mitigate risks and protect sensitive data. By embracing these trends, we will not only enhance our efficiency, but also strengthen our role as a partner of choice.

What major adjustments should a business consider this year, in the context of local market competition and worldwide challenges?
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the shared service centers are already rethinking their role, shifting from traditional back-office functions to becoming true business enablers. This means extending the scope beyond transactional tasks to include core business services, consulting, and strategic decision-making support. This transformation allows us to drive greater value more easily, by providing data-driven insights, optimizing end-to-end processes, and enhancing customers’ & pertners’ experience.

To remain competitive, businesses must also focus on resilience by reshaping the operating model, meaning taking full ownership of outcomes rather than executing predefined tasks, ensuring accountability and alignment with business objectives.

Also, upskilling and reskilling the workforce plays a crucial part in this transformation. Preparing our employees for the increasing use of automation, AI, and other emerging technologies is vital. It is truly important to continue fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptability, as us all need to be prepared for the future.

What leadership aspects are you carrying into 2025?
First, a human centric leadership. While we do talk more and more about digital transformation and automation, we need to understand how we put these two aspects together. Effective leadership will always prioritize people, ensuring that digital transformation enhances employee engagement. This means fostering a culture of inclusiveness, transparency, and open dialogue where employees feel heard, valued, and empowered to contribute. By maintaining clear communication and involving teams in decision-making, leaders can build trust and create an environment that encourages innovation and collaboration.

At the same time, adaptability and continuous learning are more critical than ever. In an ever-changing business landscape, leaders must be agile, ready to embrace new technologies, and navigate market shifts with confidence. This requires not only a willingness to learn but also the ability to inspire teams to do the same. Encouraging a growth mindset and fostering resilience within the organization ensures that employees remain engaged and prepared for the future.

People and Sustainability

What steps is the company taking to align with the sustainability goals in 2025?
Our focus and actions on environmental protection have been deployed on a fertile ground and aligned with the Group’s vision – we actively contribute to the transition towards a lower-carbon economy through various actions. With our main datacenter being hosted in France, we have greened our secondary cloud datacenter via our partners in Romania. We have calibrated office temperatures within legal and wellbeing limits.

We have also engaged in company-wide digital clean-ups and we phased single-use plastics, moving towards a plastic-free venue, limiting the introduction of such products and packaging items on premise, through education. Over 50% of our population has been trained on climate stakes, causes and solutions through the half-day Climate Fresk game. By mid-2025 we will have achieved a 100% of green supply of energy.

Our e-waste doesn’t go to waste, it goes to a circular economy actor, our partners “Ateliere Fara Frontiere (AFF)”. Therefore, we keep e-waste in official supply chains, as AFF reconditions equipment that is donated mainly to public schools in Romania. Our water consumption has seen a constant reduction with new devices with debit timing and volume limiting function. Moreover, I left our sponsorship activity at the end, as this is our citizenship effort with the external community for the protection of the environment.

We have, as other companies also do, planted trees, greening areas of land from where honey is also produced. We enjoy that same honey in our morning coffees, thanks to “Asociatia Se Poate” who is our partner on this activity. In addition, we have awarded one project called Green Campus to Climatosfera, which looks at creating a Climate Shelter, greening a currently derelict and grey area, for the benefit of students from three nearby universities. A smaller project, but one in which we also have great trust, is the education of Romanian farmers called “AgroDurabil” in sustainable and durable agriculture practices, healthy for soils, balancing the Climate through Carbon sequestration and boosting human health.

How do you engage people in your teams to ensure long-term sustainability in your operations?
Retaining and engaging our diverse workforce in the new era of work, with rapidly changing and ambiguous macro context is very important for our organization. Maintaining a motivated and stable workforce is essential not only for business continuity, but also for long-term success.

Our Employee Value Proposition resulted in a highly stable engagement and earned us the Great Place to Work certification for three consecutive years, plus the Employer of the Year Award (2024) by Romanian Business Services Forum & Awards, The Diplomat. Our ambition is to continue to sustain the engagement and people experience, with a continuous focus on career management, people wellbeing, learning experience. A particular attention is on the strategic workforce planning, including the impact of technology, to build on the skills of the existing workforce through learning, reskilling, or upskilling, to prepare the future.

Which are the main aspects to be considered in 2025 in terms of DEI and ESG?
As things continue to develop and shift, we need to continue to communicate on our values, to stay true to what matters and prioritize as such. Also, we shall complement our own work and processes with an increased focus on our supply chain responsibility. As for our people and our DEI policies, our people are and should continue to be recognized as unique individuals with a diversity of skill set and contribution, life experiences and need for increased life flexibility.

We continue to shape existing policy with our staff through the Employee Resource Groups, and we are guided by equitable and ethical standards in our work relationship. We look at several factors: gender aspects, inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community, how generations interact, differently abled colleagues, and various forms of cultural inclusion. DEI for us means People Diversity, People Wellbeing including mental health, and People Resilience, through performance.

What are the priorities for nurturing talent and building a resilient workforce this year?
Accordingly to our Great Place to Work certifications for 3 years in a row, we do consider ourselves an employee centric organization. All Human Resources strategies place employees at the core of our services. Always connected with the external business environment, aware of its challenges and opportunities, we plan and then effectively execute our people-agenda.

As a business service organization, we represent a strong partner of choice for SG Group entities and that raises the bar when it comes to be the best in class in various areas of our operations. Key priorities for 2025 when it comes to nurturing talent are related to the employee life cycle, from onboarding to offboarding, with ready-now services to accompany our professional workforce. For that, we ensure a strong talent pipeline from recruiting to internal mobility, accompanied by a plethora of learning experiences. Like any ambitious organization, we support our employees to achieve their potential through various talent development opportunities, such as Expertise programs, Talent Management, Mentoring and various other experiences ranging from formal to informal learning catering to the ready-now business ambition. We believe resilience is part of our DNA, and this is supported by our skills, attitude and mindset proven.

Innovation and Digital Transformation

What role does innovation play in the company’s business strategy for this year? In what kind of business aspects should be more integrated?

It is already a fact that innovation is a key driver of business strategy, as it enables companies to enhance their service quality, improve efficiency, and strengthen regulatory compliance. By integrating proper innovation, businesses can enhance their partners’ experience through more seamless interactions. Whether through AI-powered analytics or automation tools, innovation ensures that services are not only faster, but also more responsive. This approach strengthens relationships with stakeholders by delivering consistent, high-quality solutions that align with the evolving market needs that we are all experiencing.

Moreover, embedding innovation across all business functions leads to increased efficiency and reduced operational risks.
By making innovation a fundamental part of business strategy, companies can create a future-ready model that drives a healthy & efficient long term growth.

Looking Ahead

The only constant in our lives is change, so I believe that it’s essential for us to be equipped with the right tools and mindset so that we can confidently navigate the future.

This being said, I do believe that curiosity plays the most important part in our experiences, being them professional or personal -curiosity challenges you, makes you explore new opportunities, and it just pushes you to grow. At the same time, we must remain responsible towards the society, ensuring that our progress benefits not just ourselves, but also the communities around us.

My advice is to not forget your values, to keep an open mind, embrace learning, stay focused on your goals and take ownership of everything you do.